The power of wisdom
[Proverbs 8:12-21]
What do you think our power is as Christians? I personally believe that our Christian power is God's power that manifests through our incompetence. Therefore, even though it is difficult and painful to feel our limit of power deeply through the adversities and difficulties of life I think it is necessary. The reason is because when we experience and realize our own limitation in terms of power or ability, we will have the opportunity to experience the infinite power of God. Aren’t we living day by day with the power of God who gives us strength when we are weak?
If we look at Proverbs 8:12, the Bible says, "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence …,” and verse 14 says, “… I am understanding, power is mine.” In other words, wisdom is understanding and power is wisdom’s. So today, under the heading “Power of wisdom”, I would like to think about and learn three lessons about the power of wisdom. Therefore, we want to experience the power of God's wisdom while feeling more keenly about our foolishness, which is the limit of our own power of wisdom.
First, the power of wisdom is to hate evil.
Look at Proverbs 8:13 – “"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate.” Looking back at Proverbs 1:7, the Bible says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” If we think about Proverbs 1:17 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction” in connection with Proverbs 8:13, the wise man fears God and hates evil but the fool loves loves evil because he doesn’t fear God. The fool loves pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth that God hates (v. 13). However, the wise man who fears God and hates evil, hates all these things because God hates them. This is the power of wisdom. In other words, the power of wisdom is to hate what God hates. In other words, the power of wisdom is to hate evil, pride and arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth that God hates.
Not long ago, in a conversation with a brother in Christ in the church, he told me Romans 3:10, “There is none righteous, not even one” and Romans 7:19, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.” At the same time, he said, “Wretched man that I am!” (v. 24), which the apostle Paul said, and I couldn’t help but agree with the verses he said. I am sure there is no Christians who believe in Jesus didn’t confess like the apostle Paul did in Romans 7 in their spiritual battle against themselves. One of the reasons is because, as the apostle Paul said, “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want” (v. 19), there are times when we see ourselves like this as well. Have you never seen yourself not doing the good you want and doing the evil you don’t want? If “yes”, how do you feel when you see yourself doing the evil that you don’t want to do? Are there times when you blame yourself in your incompetence and fall into sense of shame? The power of wisdom makes us to hate evil because we fear God. In other words, the power of wisdom makes us to hate what God hates. In Proverbs 8:13, the Bible clearly says that God hates pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth. It is that wisdom has the power to make us hate all of these. This is possible because wisdom dwells with prudence and we find knowledge and discretion (v. 12). What does it mean? Wisdom not only gives us the knowledge of judgment so that we can immediately discern religious and ethical good and bad, but also, wisdom makes us discreet and not committing religious ethical sins (Park). Wouldn't you like to receive this power of wisdom?
We could say that the power of wisdom makes us love what God loves. So what does God love? It is the good. And saying that God hates evil, pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth, we can say that the good God loves is humility, meekness, the good way, and honest (or upright) mouth. Therefore, the wise believers who possess the power of wisdom are humble and meek to do good and speak the truth. Are we really the wise Christians who possess this power of wisdom?
Second, the power of wisdom is to decree justice.
Look at Proverbs 8:15-16: “"By me kings reign, And rulers decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, All who judge rightly.” In order for the president and leaders of a country to rule and establish a country with justice, they must have the wisdom of God. In other words, in order for the government to govern a country well, the laws and order of the country must be set upright. In order to do that, I think the role of the judiciary (court) that judges according to the provisions of the law is important among the legislative, judicial, and administrative agencies of the country. But what would happen to the country if the judiciary didn’t establish justice in the right implementation of the law? Don’t we refer to such a country as ‘a lawless world’? In order for all nations to become a state of rule of law, the kingdom of God must be more governed by God's law, not to mention, just as the governmental power of that nation must be exercised according to the law. However, looking at the church these days, we cannot help but question whether the church of God is the kingdom of God governed by God. The reason is because the church doesn’t have the Lord as King, doesn’t resemble the Lord, and furthermore doesn’t reveal the glory of the Lord.
The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:20, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.” But for some reason, it seems that the church these days are only talking and not showing their power. For example, the church now speaks of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but the power of the gospel is not revealed to this world through the church. The law of God's kingdom is to love God and love neighbors, the twofold commandment of Jesus. But because the church doesn’t obey the law of God and only speak about it, the church isn’t showing the power of God's love in this world. Now the church, like the apostle Paul, doesn’t match teaching and action (v. 17). In other words, the church now speaks about the word of God, but is not living according it by obeying it. Therefore, the church is now being influenced by evil from the world rather than having good influence to this world. We desperately need the power of God’s wisdom now. Because God poured out wisdom on us, we the church not only hates evil because we fear God, but also establishes justice in the church, so that the church can be in order. To establish justice in the church with the wisdom that God gives means to discern between good and evil (1 Kgs. 3:9) to do good and to avoid evil in any way (1 Thess. 5:22). If we put those words in the context of today's text, we must abandon pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth that God hates, and do good things with the humility, meekness, the good way, and honest (upright) mouth that God loves (Eph 2:10). What is the reason? This is because our God is not a God of disorder but of peace (1 Cor. 14:33). What does it mean? When the family and the church that believe in the Lord are ruled by the wisdom of God, there is no disorder in the family and the church. Rather, there is peace from God in such family and the church. Is our family truly a family in which this power of wisdom is manifested?
Third and last, the power of wisdom is to acquire wealth.
Look at Proverbs 8:21 – “To endow those who love me with wealth, That I may fill their treasuries.” From Proverbs 8:10 we learned that God's wisdom is far better than gold, silver, or pearls. In other words, when we hear the voice of God's wisdom and gain God's instruction and knowledge, we also gain the ability to earn wealth. That’s why God's wisdom is more valuable than wealth itself. Look at Proverbs 8:18-19: “Riches and honor are with me, Enduring wealth and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, even pure gold, And my yield better than choicest silver.” What does it mean? Now King Solomon says that those who have wisdom have wealth and glory. Wasn't King Solomon himself a person who enjoyed the riches and glories from God with his wisdom? As God says in Deuteronomy 8:17-18, God gives us the power to obtain wealth. Therefore, rather than striving to acquire riches, we must strive to acquire God's wisdom to acquire wealth.
Then what must we do in order to put on this power of wisdom? We must love wisdom. And we must earnestly seek wisdom. Look at Proverbs 8:17 – “I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.” Now King Solomon is exhorting us to be “those who love me” (v. 21), that is, the one who loves wisdom. The reason is because when we love wisdom, we will be put on the love of wisdom. What does it mean to put on the love of wisdom? It means that wisdom gives us all these blessings when we love wisdom, just as God gave us riches that King Solomon didn't even ask for when he asked for wisdom that pleased God’s heart. Therefore, King Solomon urges us to earnestly seek wisdom. Then we will find wisdom. How can we earnestly seek wisdom? First of all, if we lack wisdom, we must ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault (Jam. 1:5). And we must listen diligently to the voice of wisdom (Prov. 8:1). We must listen and obey God's voice diligently. As we do so, we will receive the power of wisdom from God.
I personally ask God for certain power. That power is the power of the word of God and the power of His love. However, as I continued meditating on the books of wisdom in the Bible, I came to yearn for another power. That power is the “power of wisdom” meditated in today’s text. Of course, the motive for seeking the power of wisdom is that as I meditated on the books of wisdom, I became more and more forced to seek wisdom from God amidst my stupidity and foolishness. Particularly one of the reasons I long for the power of wisdom is to hate evil. In other words, one of the reasons I ask God for the power of wisdom is that I hate the evil that God hates, and also love the good that God loves more and more. The reason why the power of wisdom is needed is to establish justice. Especially, while serving the Victory Presbyterian Church, the body of the Lord, my hope and pray is that the Lord to build justice with the power of wisdom even for order and peace in the church. And when I think of the church members, what I pray to God is to hope that God will give them power of wisdom to obtain wealth so that they may be able to offer some of their wealth for the word of the kingdom of God and the gospel ministry. For this kind of work to come true, I hope and pray that we all become eager to seek wisdom and love wisdom in order to be put on the power of wisdom.